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Topic Review (Newest First)

01-19-2013 09:07 PM

big gear head

Glad to help.

01-19-2013 04:45 PM

slownugly

Quote:

Originally Posted by big gear head

Enjoy it. Things are much more satisfying when you do them yourself.

They definitely are, cant beat it in my book! I had a basic understanding of the process but actually getting in there and seeing what adjustments did what was really interesting and gave me a complete understanding of how it all works.

It is awesome to have somebody help/guide you and let you know when youre on track or way off in left field and I really do appreciate the help. Guys like you are the reason these forums are so great! Thanks a million again!

01-19-2013 02:49 PM

big gear head

Enjoy it. Things are much more satisfying when you do them yourself.

01-19-2013 01:41 PM

slownugly

AWESOME!!! Thank you again for all the help!

01-19-2013 11:07 AM

big gear head

Run it.

01-19-2013 09:18 AM

slownugly

I was able to get the backlash to .009" by adding a .005" shim to the right side carrier. My pinion shim measures .038" and this is the pattern I was able to obtain. Let me know what you think?

This looks way better than my very first pattern that I started with and its been awesome adjusting it and being able to see how the pattern changes. Im glad I didnt call it good enough with the original!?

01-19-2013 08:27 AM

big gear head

If you can get the backlash to .010 we will see what the pattern looks like. You may need to go back a little on the pinion shim if the drive pattern doesn't look better. If you could take the pinion shim to .037 it might help. I've got a few thousand shims, so making small adjustments is no problem for me. For the guy who only has about 10 shims from one installation kit it's a little harder.

01-19-2013 07:40 AM

slownugly

Yea, I thought that this kit would come with the adjustable shim stacks that adjust by smaller increments but it didnt and another lesson is learned!

I will still try to add a little to the right side to open the .008 to .010 and see what it reads.

So do you think the .038 pinion shim is the more ideal pattern if i can get the backlash squared away?

Thanks gear head!

01-19-2013 05:51 AM

big gear head

I wouldn't try adding .005 to each side if it's already that tight. You will probably damage your shims if you try that. Maybe just try adding .005 to the right side to open up the backlash just a little.

I know that this is a little late, but if you decide to do another gear sometime don't get a Richmond installation kit, or a Ratech kit or anything else that Jeg's or Summit sell. The kits that DTS, Tom's Differentials and Randy's Ring & Pinion sell have the super shim sets in them. You can make much more accurate backlash adjustments with these, and they are much easier to use. The shims in the other kits are just not good enough.

01-18-2013 08:18 PM

slownugly

Ok sounds good! I will mess with it and see what I can come up with. Ill post back and let you know what I find out. Thanks for the quick response!

Right now my carrier is pretty snug and with just the carrier in place it has drag and can spin almost one full turn. To get it out I have to use a pry bar and cant get it out by hand alone, so I believe my shims are good? At least for set up, I may add .005" to each side to preload them on final assembly?

01-18-2013 07:51 PM

big gear head

The pattern is probably better with the .038 shim. If you can get the backlash to .010 it would move the drive pattern a little more to the heel and possibly make it look right. Increasing the backlash moves the pattern toward the heel. Closing the backlash moves the pattern toward the toe. Increasing the pinion shim moves the pattern toward the root and taking shim out of the pinion moves the pattern toward the face. Don't try to make up for backlash by changing the pinion depth.

If you can add some shim to the right side without taking anything out of the left side it might move the backlash .002. Do you have the shims tight enough that youc an not pull the differential out by hand? If you can't get the backlash to .010 then stay with .008 and .038 pinion shim.

01-18-2013 06:59 PM

slownugly

Gear head,
I was only able to adjust the backlash in .005" increments since thats what shims came with my richmond kit. I adjusted the pinion shim to .038" and adjusted the carrier by .005" and the backlash ended up at .012".

Personally, Id like to stay at .010" or lower, but not sure if the allowance works both ways. Ive found through research that .008"-.010" (.010 is stamped on my gears) is where you want to run it, so not sure if .012" would fly?

If I went up to .040" would this tighten up the backlash if I left the carrier shims the way they are? Or should I just run with the .035" pinion shim and take everything back to the way I had it in my second pattern I posted?

01-18-2013 05:38 PM

slownugly

Quote:

Originally Posted by big gear head

The coast side looks much better, but the drive side looked a little better before. Try increasing the backlash by about .002 and see what happens to the drive side.

Ok will do! Im gonna take .005 off of one side and add it to the other to increase the backlash and see what that looks like. Ill post the pictures when I get the pattern. Thanks for all your help! Ive heard that reading a pattern correctly is more of an art than a science, so it has helped having someone who knows what to look for. Thanks bud!

01-18-2013 04:07 PM

big gear head

The coast side looks much better, but the drive side looked a little better before. Try increasing the backlash by about .002 and see what happens to the drive side.

01-18-2013 03:44 PM

slownugly

Thanks again gear head!!

Here is the set up with .038" shim under pinion, .008" backlash and between 15-20 in/lbs of preload on the pinion nut. Let me know what you think.

drive pattern-1st pic, coast-2nd pic

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